The Brazilian Deindustrialization Thesis Revisited: A Subsystem Approach, 2000-2015

Abstract

This article investigates the structural transformation of sectors and subsystems in Brazil during the 2000-2015 period, applying Momigliano and Siniscalco’s approach. We employed the official Brazilian input-output tables from 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 to evaluate employment, value-added, and profits of six economic activities. Looking at sectors and subsystems, we can better understand the structural change and its connection with domestic outsourcing, particularly in manufacturing. Our findings underscored a weaker process of manufacturing decline when we take the subsystem approach. The rising integration of market services into the manufacturing sector explains, at least partially, the smaller manufacturing decline in terms of value-added and profit participation in the overall economy.